Pitched wall and roof seal



Jan. 28, 1969 w. B. ELCONIN PITCHED WALL AND ROOF SEAL Filed July 26,1966 Film. 1. MM .3 .E'LCON/A/ IN VEN TOR.

United States Patent Int. Cl. E0411 13/14, 1/36, 3/24 Claims ABSTRACT OFTHE DISCLOSURE A molded seal is provided for side walls or roofs havinga corrugated exterior surface when it is required to provide awater-tight seal between the corrugated surface and a flat or planarflange on a ventilator base, roof flashing, roof hatch, or any otherobject having a flat flange located adjacent an opening in a side wallor roof. In such cases, the flange is located at the top or outsidesurface of the ridges in the corrugated surface. The seal has taperedfillers that fill and close the depressions between the ridges, not onlyto prevent entry of water but, in the case of a sloping roof, toeliminate low places where water can collect by diverting and drainingthe water away from the area.

The present invention relates generally to roof and wall construction;and is more especially concerned with means for rainproofing around anyopening through a roof, such as required for ventilation, or by a ductor pipe or other object which extends through and above the roofsurface, or through a Wall.

It is common practice to cut a hole in a roof or wall to permit passageof air or a pipe, stack, ventilator, or other structure whichnecessarily passes through a roof or wall and extends above or beyondit. Normally, such structures are either provided with a flat flange ora flashing around them provides a flange of this same shape whichgenerally engages a surface of the roof and against which a watertightseal can be made. In the case of roofs with flat sheeting it can overlapthe flange or flashing to make a tight seal.

However, in the case of roofs having parallel ridges and interveningdepressions or valleys extending parallel to the slope of a roof, as forexample a roof made from the familiar corrugated sheet metal, a problemarises of seal ing where these valleys or depressions intersect the holein the roof. If the usual flange and/or flashing is provided and itrests upon the tops of the ridges, it then offers no obstacle againstthe entry of rain water running down the valleys. Heretofore, it hasbeen customary in this situation to place in the valleys and underneaththe flashing mastic of some type which fills the valleys in the roofsurface beneath the flashing and bonds with the roof.

In an attempt to solve this problem, in new construction the up-slopeflange or flashing is sometimes placed under the roof sheeting and thedown-slope flange or flashing is placed above the roof sheeting; butthis arrangement introduces added problems sealing at the lateral edgesof the opening. There, also, mastic is relied on to fill inirregularities and seal non-planar meeting surfaces.

This mastic type of seal ordinarily deteriorates after a while under thecombined action of the sun and the water. The latter is injurious to themastic and in the usual construction is in contact with the mastic for aconsiderable period of time. The plug of mastic at the end of a valleyprovides a dam behind which water running down the valley accumulatesuntil the depth of water is suflicient to overflow the ridge at one sideor the other. However, the pond of water thus created has no escape andcontinues to exist until it dries up by evaporation. The continued longcontact of the rain water with the mastic is considered to be a primarycause of the deterioration of the mastic and eventual leaking of theroof at these points.

Even at the sides of an opening where water does not accumulate, leaksdevelop frequently as a consequence of the deterioration of the masticwhich cracks or shrinks and thereby allows the water to seep insideways. Thus it will be seen that serious problems of sealing againstentry of water occur with many constructions such as those created 'by avent duct, pipe or the like passing through a roof; and that relying onbodies of mastic or similar nonmetallic compositions to effect awatertight seal has not been satisfactory from the standpoint ofdurability.

Thus, it becomes a general object of the present invention to eliminateleaks in roofs having valleys running down the slope of the roofs wherethese valleys intersect objects which extend through and upwardly abovethe roof.

More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to devise aseal for use in combination with surfaces of this character on roofs orwalls which is adapted to eliminate or prevent the accumulation of waterat the end of a valley where it meets an object extending upwardlythrough and above the roof or beyond a side wall.

These and other objects of the invention are achieved by providing thecombination with a building wall, either a roof or side wall, having avalley or recessed area between two ridges the roof and a flat sheetprovided by a duct flange or flashing bordering an opening in the walland extending across the valley above the ridges, or a ramp seal in thevalley extending away from the upper edge of the flat sheet and betweenthe ridgcsto fill in the depression which would otherwise exist at theend of the valley. The ramp seal has a generally flat top surfacesloping in the direction of the roof but at a lesser angle to permit thewater to run off under gravity flow. More generally speaking, the topsurface of the seal lies substantially in a plane meeting orintersecting the wall surface at the upper end of the seal and rising toor beyond the top of the ridges at the lower end of the seal. Thus,rainwater coming down the valley flows onto and over the top surface ofthe ramp seal and then is delivered from it on to the flat sheetbordering the opening in such a manner that in the case of a roof, thewater can continue to flow on down the roof.

The seal preferably is provided with a flange at its lower end whichoverlies the flat sheet in order to deliver the water onto the sheet andprovide a joint which can be readily and effectively sealed.

How the above objects and advantages of the present invention, as wellas others not specifically mentioned, are obtained will be more readilyunderstood by reference to the following description and to the annexeddrawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary pers ective of a section of roof with aventilator above the roof and for which an opening has been cut in theroof, illustrating a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged vertical section on line 22 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a bottom and end perspective showing the underside of theramp seal alone.

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of the seal in place on the roof.

FIGURE 5 is a vertical transverse section on line 55 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary vertical section of a single valley on line6-6 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 7 is a section similar to FIGURE 5 illustrating a ramp sealadapted to a corrugated sheet metal roof of different contour.

FIGURE 8 is a vertical section through an opening and seal in a verticalside wall.

Referring now to the drawing, and more particularly to FIGURE 1, thereis shown in the drawings sheeting 10 resting on horizontal purlins 11which are in turn supported by rafters 12. The sheeting may be of anytype of material, but ordinarily it is sheet metal, for example,galvanized iron, since this material is most frequently encountered witha surface configuration which presents the problems already described.

As may be seen from FIGURES 4 and 5 particularly, the sheeting is formedwith a plurality of parallel ridges 15 which extend generally parallelto the slope of the roof. Between each two successive ridges 15 is arecessed area or valley 16. The dimensions of these ridges and valleysin the sheeting are of no particular significance, except thatordinarily the problems mentioned arise only when the horizontal widthof the valleys is less than the width of the flange or flashing aroundthe hole in the roof. For the sake of illustration, the ridges andvalleys are here shown as all being of the same size and shape; but itwill be realized that this is not limitative upon the present inventionas it may be applied equally well to sheeting having ridges of differentheights or valleys of different widths.

As may be seen particularly from FIGURE 2 an opening is cut in thesheeting in order to provide access to the interior of ventilator 21which is merely typical of the various installations requiring anopening to be cut through the roof. Ventilator 21 is here shown as beingrectangular in horizontal cross section and having a base with upwardlyextending, flat sidewalls 22; but, again, this is only illustrative andnot limitative upon the invention since the invention may be equallywell applied to a stack or a ventilator having a circular cross section.

The typical ventilator base or flashing is provided with flange 23 whichis a flat sheet that projects outwardly away from walls 22 around thebase of the ventilator. This flange is not exactly horizontal, althoughit may be spoken of as a horizontal flange since, when viewed as inFIGURE 5, it appears horizontal. Actually, it is inclined to thehorizontal to equal the slope of the roof so that when flange 23 restsupon the tops of the ridges 15, as shown in FIGURE 2, the sidewalls 22of the ventilator are substantially vertical.

A common installation is shown in FIGURE 2, in which flange 23 restsupon the tops of ridges 15 and normally borders opening 20 in the roof.It is apparent from FIG- URE 2 that in this construction, valleys 16pass under the up-hill portion of flange 23 and open at their lower endsto opening 20 so that rainwater running down the valleys can enteropening 20 in the roof unless prevented by some means. The ramp sealindicated generally at 25 in FIGURE 3 is shaped to fit in one or more ofthese valleys and provides means for closing the ends of the valleys anddiverting rainwater onto the top of flange 23. Description of the sealand its relation to a single valley 16 is sufficient to disclose theentire structure since the seal is duplicated at each of the valleys.

Seal 25 is a body of yieldable, non-metallic substance such as asynthetic plastic material which is preferably thermo-setting incharacter so that it can be warmed to a liquid or plastic condition andmolded into the desired shape. Seal body 25 has elongated, finger-likesections 26 of which each one fits into a valley 16 between two ridges15 and is shaped to conform to and engage the sidewalls of the valley asin FIGURE 6, with a watertight fit.

Viewed in longitudinal vertical cross section as in FIGURE 2, each bodysection 26 is wedge-shaped with the thin end uphill and the thick enddownhill adjoining preferably abutting, the upper edge of flange 23.This profile of the body portion 26 gives it a ramp-like shape andfunction and is such that the upper surface 27 slopes or is pitcheddownhill in the same direction as sheeting 10, but at a lesser angle.This places the top surface 27 substantially in a plane that meets orintersects the roof surface at the base of a recessed valley 16 and thenrises in the valley to a point at the downhill end of the plane which isat least at the top of, and preferably higher than or above, ridges 15at either side of the valley.

Seal 25 preferably terminates in a thinner integral flange 28 which isadapted to overlie a portion at least of flange 23 on the ventilatorbase or flashing. Since the top surface of flange 28 is a continuationof surface 27 of each section 26, a continuous surface is presented tothe water flowing over the seal and the water is delivered on to flange23 where the water flows to one side or the other around ventilator 22and thence continues on its way down the roof slope.

Viewed in transverse cross section as in FIGURE 5, the seal section 26fitting between two ridges 15 is designed to conform to the shape of thevalley; more especially to the shape of that portion of the valley whichis below the plane established by the top surface 27 of the body. Thisenables the seal to establish a watertight bond with the roof sheetingto prevent leakage around it into the building. A cement or mastic maybe applied between the roof and the seal to assure a watertight jointand to hold it in place.

However, in a general sense the seal sections may have some other shapesthan illustrated. Each section may be more or less hollow, for example,to economize on material. For the reasons given, it is preferable thatthe seal on its underside conform to the surface of the roof sheeting;but at the same time, some departure from full or faithful conformationwith the roof surface is possible.

In order to obtain the desired configuration of the individual sealsections 26 which fill the individual valleys, it has been found highlysatisfactory to mold the filler by pouring the material in a fluid orplastic condition into a mold that preferably is a section of the roofsheet to which the seal is to be applied and therefore duplicates theshape of an area of the roof sheet. Thus, the seal conforms exactly tothe upper surface of the sheeting.

The full width of a ramp seal is preferably made greater than the widthor horizontal dimension of the flange with which it is to be used toallow for shifting the seal relative to the flange as may be required bythe pattern of ridges and valleys in the roof and yet fully cover theflange. Excess material at the sides of the ramp seal can be left on ormay be trimmed away to produce the appearance as in FIGURE 4.

The length of the fingers 26 measured parallel to the slope can beestablished by the slope given the roof. Roof slopes ordinarily followcertain definite standards of slope. For instance, assume that the roofis built on a standard slope of one vertical or three horizontal. Thelength of the body 26 would then be made such that the top surfacerepresent some lesser slope, for example one vertical on six horizontal.

In order to complete the installation, it is often preferable to coverthe joint between the ramp seal and the roof sheeting with some type ofsealing means. In the figures this sealing means is shown as being acaulking tape 29 which is laid around the entire perimeter of seal 25and is cemented to both the seal and to the adjacent roof sheeting, asshown particularly in FIGURE 4.

Another optional feature is the addition of anchor means, such asself-tapping sheet metal screws 30 which pass through the seal and intothe roof sheeting in order to hold the seal against accidentaldisplacement. A cement may be substituted for the anchor screws or itmay be found that the caulking strip 29 provides an adequate anchor forthis purpose.

The seal is not limited to any particular shape on its underside, sincethe shape of that surface is determined by the mating surface on theroof. In the event that the roof sheeting is the familiar corrugatedsheet metal in which the ridges and valleys are either circular arcs ormore or less rounded, as shown in FIGURE 7, then the seal takes acorresponding shape to fill the valleys as shown in FIGURE 7.

The invention is not limited to roofs, but may be incorporated in a sidewall of a building as shown in FIG- URE 8. Here side wall 40 is made ofsheet metal having depressed areas 41 between parallel ridges 42. In thewall is a frame 43 of sheet metal or the like having louvers 44 forventilation. Frame 43 has a peripheral flange 45. On the upper side aramp seal 46 abuts the upper edge of flange 45 and has an integralflange 47 which overlaps the upper run of sheet metal flange 45 on theventilator. As before, the ramp seal is wedge-shaped in longitudinalcross section and conforms to the contour or pattern of the wallsurface. The top surface 48 of the seal is inclined to the wall surfaceto intersect the latter to receive and divert rainwater away from thejoint between frame 43 and the Wall. Accordingly, the term wall as usedherein and in the claims is to be construed to mean any building wall,including a side wall or a roof.

From the foregoing description, it will be understood that the variouschanges may be made in the present invention without departnig from thespirit and scope thereof. Accordingly, it is to be understood that theabove description is considered to be illustrative of, rather thanlimitative upon, the scope of the invention as defined by the appendedclaims.

I claim:

1. The combination of:

a building wall having a surface with a recess between two parallelridges, said wall having an opening therethrough;

a flat sheet adjacent the opening at one side thereof and extendingacross the recess between the ridges at the top of the ridges;

and a ramp seal in engagement with the outside surface of the wall andextending away from the upper edge of the flat sheet between the ridges;

the ramp seal having a tapered body with a generally flat top surfaceinclined to the bottom surface of the recessed area of the wall andlying substantially in a plane meeting said bottom surface at the upperend of the seal and rising above the top of the ridges at the lower endof the seal.

2. The combination as in claim 1 which also includes a flange at thelower end of the seal overlying and parallel 4 to the flat sheet.

3. The combination as in claim 2 in which the top surface of the flangeis continuous with the top surface of the seal.

4. The combination as in claim 1 in which the seal is wedge-shaped inlongitudinal cross section, having a maximum depth greater than thedepth of the recessed area, and in transverse cross section conforms tothe shape of the recessed area below the level of said plane.

5. The combination as in claim 1 in which the seal is a syntheticplastic material.

6. The combination as in claim 1 which also includes a sealing stripcovering the joint between the seal and the wall.

7. The combination as in claim 1 in which the wall is a sloping roof andthe angle of taper of the body is less than the angle of the roof withthe horizontal.

8. A ramp seal for use with a sloping roof having a valley between twosuccessive parallel ridges extending in the direction of roof slope,comprising:

a body of yieldable, non-metallic material fitting in said valley andhaving a generally flat top surface lying substantially in a planemeeting the roof surface at one end of the body and rising to the top ofthe ridges at the other end of the body;

and an integral flange projecting outwardly from said body at said otherend thereof with the top surface of the flange being substantially aprolongation of the body.

9. An article as in claim 8 which is wedge-shaped in longitudinal crosssection and in transverse cross section conforms to the shape of thevalley below the level of said plane.

10. A ramp seal for use with a sloping roof having a plurality ofvalleys between successive parallel ridges extending in the direction ofroof slope, comprising:

a plurality of tapered bodies of yieldable, non-metallic materialfitting in said valleys, said tapered bodies being spaced apart andparallel to each other and each being of wedge-shape in longitudinalcross section;

and a flat, relatively thin flange extending transversely of andconnecting together all of said tapered bodies,

said flange extending outwardly and away from said bodies at the thickends thereof.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 857,601 6/1907 Cooper 52-132,537,743 1/1951 Crafton 52-97 5 FOREIGN PATENTS 18,897 1882 Germany.311,105 5/1929 Great Britain. 840,864 7/ 1960 Great Britain.

HENRY C. SUTHERLAND, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 52-90, 97, 200

